Linguistic Recycling in Political Discourse: The Resource Aspect of Reusing Utterances in Public

Investigating the phenomenon of reusing utterances verbatim, usually termed quoting, highlights agents’ discursive practices. Recontextualizing foregrounds that quotesQuotes are shifted from one communicative environment to another. The concept of linguistic recyclingLinguistic recycling extends this idea by focusing on how language users quote to enhance the value of an utterance in a new context. This chapter explores linguistic recycling and its analytical value in political discourse, shedding light on saving resources and creating value by reusing utterances. Real-life cases from FinlandFinland’s and SwitzerlandSwitzerland’s political spheres illustrate three types of linguistic recyclingLinguistic recycling: down-cycling, which decreases linguistic capital; cross-cyclingCrosscycling with unchanged capital; and up-cycling, which increases the capital. The analyses and discussion show that saving resources and creating value are key drivers in professional language use and can impact power relations. Therefore, the concept of linguistic recycling deepens our understanding of political communication, in particular. Our explorative results call for further investigation into its broader implications in shaping public opinion and political landscapes.